Newcastle Falcons have secured the services of another of the club’s promising young talents, after agreeing a new deal with lock forward Will Witty.
The 21 year old has impressed since making a try scoring first team debut for the club in the 2014/15 European Rugby Challenge Cup, and already has three Aviva Premiership appearances to his name.
On the back of that impressive rise, Witty earned a call into the England U20s squad for the Junior World Championships, where he earned plenty of plaudits as he and the team progressed to the competition’s final.
Having recovered from a pre season injury, Witty continued to develop well with appearances for the club in both the Aviva A League and the European Rugby Challenge Cup, before making a first Aviva Premiership start in last weekend’s game against Sale.
Speaking of his new deal, Witty said: “I was really happy when I found out I was going to be able to extend my contract. The club is going to quite good places and there is a lot to come. I’m really excited and looking forward to the next few years here.
“I’m starting to feel pretty good and have been able to get more game time under my belt I’m looking to try and rebuild up some of the form I had last season and hopefully I’ll be able to kick on and improve myself.
“As a player you are always looking to establish yourself and improve, and having players like Sean [Robinson] and Cal [Green] around in the team will provide competition to push each other on. It is a really good environment to have that competitiveness.”
Director of Rugby Dean Richards said, “Will is a very talented young player who has impressed in his appearances so far for the club and we should all be looking forward to seeing him do more of the same.
“He has shown a great deal of maturity, and was outstanding in our win down at Newport a couple of autumns ago.
“While injuries provided some obstacles to him this year, he has overcome them well and he will no doubt be putting his hand up for selection during the coming seasons.”